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Customer Reviews (7)

Well Written Biography
OK..so. This seems to be a pretty thorough, well written biography covering all bases of the life of Hedy Lamarr.
I didn't know that much about Ms Lamarr and was a rather ambivalent fan. She was amazing looking, no dispute.
That said, by the end of the book I didn't really care for the lady.
I would have to say that her treatment of her adopted son, James, pretty much negates everything else she did.This, of course, is my opinion. I believe it was Jacki Onassis who said "If you fail as a mother, nothing else matters"

As Beautiful as the title.
"Beautiful: The Life of Hedy Lamarr" is a well-reaseached, detailed look at the life of this glamorous Hollywood screen legend. The chapters discussing her 1941 patent [with composer George Antheil] are most informative. Hedy possessed brains as well as beauty. Highly recommended. Only a few caveats, mostly having to do with rail travel [the author occasionally gets the destinations of the famous streamliners of the time wrong]. A few glaring typos, too: the composer Becchi and Rota are misspelt as Beccha and Roti. Otherwise, first-class all the way.

Beautiful, Smart, a Bit Unbalanced?
Ijust finished this book last night.Hedy was beautiful, smart, and really spoiled. She had six husbands and could all six of them have been all that bad?You cannot deny that she was very intelligent but she seem to be mentally off.Her treatment of her oldest son was deplorable and cannot be excused and her numerous lawsuits over the most trivial of things seemed way off the wall and lets not forget her supposed autobiography that was really disgusting. It seemed she okayed it (with her signature) for release because she wanted the money.The booked damned her in Hollywood and her career was over. She then sued the authors and publishers for damaging her career and slandering her.

Her acting was was okay but if she hadn't been so beautiful,would the studios have bothered with her?I loved her in Sampson and Delila but I don't remember her other movies so I cannot truthfully say if she was good or bad as an actress.

What was so amazing was the estate that she left behind.She was flat broke but she loved the stock market and she did her homnework and managed to end up with a few million bucks to leave her kids.

Too much...
Who starred, who almost starred, who directed, who might have directed, who co-starred and backed out, who produced, who didn't produce....all too much and boring.Book could have been edited down from the 480 pages to a much better and tighter read.The beginning chapters on Hedy's life in Austria, her marriage tothe munitions tycoon and "escape" to England I found interesting and informative.

MGM Goddess
A book that tells of the life of Miss. Lamarr . Her film career, her affairs, her husbands, and all the things she invented. A really detailed and well written book. A must for all Hedy Lamarr fans. ... Read more

Product Description

Hedy Lamarr's life was punctuated by salacious rumors and public scandal, but it was her stunning looks and classic Hollywood glamour that continuously captivated audiences. Born Hedwig Kiesler, she escaped an unhappy marriage with arms dealer Fritz Mandl in Austria to try her luck in Hollywood, where her striking appearance made her a screen legend. Her notorious nude role in the erotic Czech film Ecstasy (1933), as well as her work with Cecil B. DeMille (Samson and Delilah, 1949), Walter Wanger (Algiers, 1938), and studio executive Louis B. Mayer catapulted her alluring and provocative reputation as a high-profile sex symbol.

In Hedy Lamarr: The Most Beautiful Woman in Film, Ruth Barton explores the many facets of the screen legend, including her life as an inventor. Working with avant-garde composer and film scorer George Antheil, Lamarr helped to develop and patent spread spectrum technology, which is still used in mobile phone communication. However, despite her screen persona and scientific success, Lamarr's personal life caused quite a scandal. A string of failed marriages, a lawsuit against her publisher regarding her sensational autobiography, and shoplifting charges made her infamous beyond her celebrity.

Drawing on extensive research into both the recorded truths of Lamarr's life and the rumors that made her notorious, Barton recognizes Lamarr's contributions to both film and technology while revealing the controversial and conflicted woman underneath. Hedy Lamarr: The Most Beautiful Woman in Film illuminates the life of a classic Hollywood icon.

Customer Reviews (4)

Review of Hedy Lamarr book
This was an interesting book, but ultimately very sad.Miss Lamarr was a terrible actress who never really improved from role to role.However, she did have a good scientific mind, as demonstrated by the frequency hopping invention she created during World War II.It seems as if she had some identity problems, pschological problems that influenced her behavior on set with co-workers (some unpleasantness), getting married too frequently, shoplifting, and too many episodes of suing people for silly reasons.I was left with the feeling that she should probably not have had children, should have left acting earlier than she did, maybe become a science teacher or gone into a scientific profession. She had a good brain; if only it could have been put to better use.

INDEED, THE FAIREST OF THEM ALL!
No doubt about it,a favorite of men through the years, the envy of women. Hedy Lamarr's life is more thrilling, more fascinating and captivating and even "strange" than most of her films ever were.Ruth Barton narrates many facts of Miss Lamarr's life, already known. . . early years in Vienna, movie roles, marriages, shoplifting charges, an inventor. . . but also tellsdetails of her private life after "retirement" in New York and Florida. . .For the many men who may have dreamed of dating Hedy. . .or even spending a night with her, this biography may convince them that Hedy is to be more admired and "wished for," from a distance. . .to see her on the screen is a delight, a dream and an escape from reality. . . to be close to her, maybe a heartbreak!

A biography on Hedy Lamarr has been hoped for and anticipated by her still many fans for a long time. . .Ruth Barton has written a biography which makes Hedy come alive and entertain us once again.

Hedy Lamarr Revisited
On a personal level, I liked this book. It was a pleasant surprise to find a study which contrasted Lamarr's questionably ghost written autobiography (ECSTACY AND ME)with known facts and debateable 'truths' that have become urban legend.
As for Hedy, like most celebrities, a lot of her personal background was doctored up by the publicity department at her first studio MGM. Deciphering the truth was no small feat. Ruth Barton researched her subject so thoroughly that whatever was able to be confirmed was (i.e., Hedy's jewish heritage) and she demonstrated extreme reserve with the questionable aspects of Lamarr's history such as the true parentage of Lamarr's adopted son James. Barton's digging was fruitful and presents a much clearer picture of Lamarr than has been seen before.
While this book may not have been as detailed as I would have liked in some respects and I wish Barton might have provided more information regarding all of Lamarr's husbands and her children, this is definitely a good first look at Hedy that presents her at her finest moments and her lowest and addresses her involvement as an inventor. It looks into Lamarr's life and career without sensationalizing the more negative aspects.

hedy

A very good book. Loads of information. More photos would have been great. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Fills an important gap, as usual with this series
As a rule, Citadel Press' "The Films of..." series is the best, sometimes the only, place to get comprehensive filmographies on a particular star, and it is even so in the case of Hedy Lamarr. Given that there are relatively few books available on her - which is unaccountable, IMO - this volume is particularly valuable. As usual for this series, the major components of this book are a concise biographical sketch, followed by reviews/discussions of all of Lamarr's film roles.This series excels in presenting first-rate black-and-white photographs of its subjects, and _The Films of Hedy Lamarr_ is a particularly fine treasury of pictures of the gorgeous Lamarr.

Films of Hedy Lamarr
For all the fans of Hedy Lamarr, this is the ultimate book.All her films are reviewed, and her remarkable life is detailed by Christopher Young, who obviously keeps her on a pedestal throughout.The book contains hundreds of photographs of Hedy, which proves again that indeed, she was "the fairest of them all."It is deeply regretted that this book has been out of print for years. . .would that the publishers would reintroduce it to her many admirers, old as well as new.It is now all the more valuable since her death on January l9, 2000. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Not high literature but a good read
True to the subtitle "My Life as a Woman", the book reports only about those aspects of and events in the life of the author, Hedy Lamarr, in which the fact that she was a woman played a major role: marriages, sex, and movies, in about equal parts and in considerable detail. Her achievements and her patent in electronics are not mentioned at all, not even hinted at.
Although the over-all story is roughly chonological, there are many flash-forwards and flash-backs. Whether the narrative can hold up agianst these, is a matter of opinion; I could have done with a little less. The main time line starts with her birth and shows repeatedly how here life was influenced by the movie "Extasy" she made when she was 18 years old (hence the title). It ends with the infamous shoplifting affair, of which she gives a vague account, clearly unwilling to tell the whole truth, but equally clearly unwilling to lie. This tension is, to a lesser extend, discernable throughout the entire book. The book ends with about eighty small paragraphs of personal wisdom and advice.
Not high literature but definitely a good read, if you are interested in H.L. or in the Hollywood movie industry of 1935-1965.

The Complete Woman!
Aside from being one of the most beautiful woman in her era of the screen, and a totally unappreciated fine actress in her own right -- she also had brains, coinventing an electronic item, far ahead of it's time, but is in use today by both military and commerical sources in our world of today.

Poorly written
This book is very poorly written beginning with an incorrect date of birth, the lady goes on and on and never talks about her scientific accomplishmentsbut harps on her sexual conquests which appears to me more timid than some stories that we know of from our personal experiences. May be it was torrid when it first appeared but now it seems pretty tame. ... Read more

Product Description
In graphic novel format, tells the story of how Hollywood star Hedy Lamarr came up with the idea for a secret communication system, which would much later become the basis for wireless technology. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Comic books for young scientist
Very smart format.
My 8 yeats old son loved it. His fisrt introduction to Marvel type comic book, but very clever and informative. Great inspiration for girls too. ... Read more

Product Description
Chapters: Ada Lovelace, Hedy Lamarr, Lisa Nowak, Lynn Conway, Anousheh Ansari, Sunita Williams, Elsie Macgill, Bonnie J. Dunbar, Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper, Mildred Dresselhaus, Susan J. Helms, Sheila Widnall, Society of Women Engineers, Wendy B. Lawrence, Nancy J. Currie, Claire Curtis-Thomas, Judith Resnik, Jan Davis, Joan Higginbotham, Kathryn P. Hire, Stephanie Wilson, Emily Warren Roebling, Mary L. Cleave, Florence Devouard, Katia Sycara, Mary E. Weber, Sandra Magnus, Kate Bellingham, Marsha Ivins, Kate Gleason, Ellen Ochoa, Susan Still Kilrain, Indira Samarasekera, Hertha Marks Ayrton, Julia King, Beulah Louise Henry, Sarah Guppy, Edith Clarke, Ursula Burns, Caroline Haslett, Constance Tipper, Monique Frize, Kaqusha Jashari, Andrea Wong, Rachel Shalon, Janice E. Voss, Margaret Hutchinson Rousseau, Cynthia Breazeal, Lisa C. Klein, Marta Bohn-Meyer, Beatrice Hicks, Marie Killick, Missy Cummings, Margot Taule, Victoria Drummond, Mandy Haberman, Erna Schneider Hoover, Women in Engineering, Dorothy Okello. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 237. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Lisa Marie Nowak (née Caputo) (born May 10, 1963) is a United States naval officer and a former NASA astronaut. Born in Washington, DC, she was selected by NASA in 1996 and qualified as a mission specialist in robotics. Nowak flew aboard Space Shuttle Discovery during mission STS-121 in July 2006 where she was responsible for operating the robotic arms of the shuttle and the International Space Station. Nowak gained international attention on February 5, 2007, when she was arrested in Orlando, Florida, and subsequently charged with the attempted kidnapping of U.S. Air Force Captain Colleen Shipman, the girlfriend of astronaut William Oefelein. Nowak was released on bail, and initially pleaded not guilty to...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=2313053 ... Read more

Product Description
It's no secret that Hedy Lamarr was a screen goddess and icon of the 1930's, the 1940's, and even into the 1950's. A career which spanned decades, author Devra Hill was one of the few individuals granted access by Hedy into the private moments of her legendary life. Most people knew about the public Hedy, the persona that made headlines in the newspapers. But only Devra Hill got close enough to know her intimate secrets revealed to her through many shared moments of conversation they had together. Devra says "A cunning and brilliantly manipulative woman as exemplified in my chapter involving Hedy's tryst with Adolph Hitler." Although initially taken by him against her will, Hedy remained in his good graces long enough to receive a diamond encrusted cigarette case as a gift from one of the most hated men of the twentieth century. Only Hedy could soothe the savage beast". In "What Almost Happened to Hedy" the reader is faced with some fascinating questions ie; What was it that Hedy Lamarr knew during her liaisons with Adolph Hitler? Why did she know men but never really knew love? Was she really as sexual as everyone imagined? What was it inside the mind of Hedy Lamarr that really made her tick? Hedy Lamarr fans will truly enjoy author Devra Hill's excellent writing and perhaps come to understand a more intimate side of the actress that most of us will never know.. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

I don't think so
Have not read it. Hedy was Jewish. The likelihood of a relationship with Der Fuerher is ridiculous.

A Fascinating Look at Screen Legend Hedy Lamarr
Hedy Lamarr was a mysterious and beautiful woman who became famous in Europe during the 1930s with her racy performance in the German film, Ecstasy.Devra Hill, who interviewed Lamarr late in her life over a period of years, brings to light a variety of salacious facts in "What Almost Happened to Hedy Lamarr."A fictionalized version of a true story, this book takes you into the life, times and mind of a person who was called "the most beautiful woman in the world."

Lamarr's strange marriage to an Austian arms manufacturer, who was responsible for her trist with the Fuhrer of the Third Reich, ended when she escaped his clutches by dressing up like the maid and just walking out of their house (They lived in the mansion where the Sound of Music movie was filmed).A natural beauty, her acting career in the U.S. flourished in the 1940s and '50s.This book is a interesting trip through the life of a fascinating woman.

Pure Rubbish
I'm merely writing to echo what the other 1-star reviewers have to say about this poorly written, poorly researched and poorly formatted book.It makes me question if there is any veracity to the gossip and speculation appearing on these pages.Certainly, the author/s have no ability to write or think.This poor attempt at exploitationis insulting(we are talking about a book replete with 3rd and 4th grade spelling errors, written for a reading audience of about 11 years old and based on a foundation of inaccuracy, hearsay and gossip).

Among other obvious attributes and talents, Hedy Lamarr possessed a mathematical brain with a refined scientific appitude.This is insulting trash and should in no way be associated with Hedy's legacy.

You are foolheardy to even consider spending a cent or a kopeck on this trash.

What Almost Happened to Hedy Lamarr
Thought it was going to be a biography on Hedy Lamarr. Was disappointed that it was a fiction story loosely based on Hedy Lamarr's life and experiences. A waste of money.

What Should Have Never Happened To Hedy Lamarr
Hoping that this would be a long anticipated biography on one of my all-time favorite movie stars, Miss Hedy Lamarr, I eagerly began reading this book by author Devra Z. Hill, who claims to have been friends with the late Miss Lamarr.

From the bizarre, unattractive neo art cover of what was a stunning Hedy Lamarr photograph, it all gets worse after that. But then, the dreadful cover is totally adept to the book, which makes no sense. As I read on I kept expecting (and hoping) that the book would return to a "normal" biography once I passed the first 30 pages.

Instead of attempting a true and tried account of Lamarr's life, Devra Z. Hill resorts to fictional writing and skips everything known about Hedy Lamarr; including birth and parents, important years in her life, her films, the actors she knew and worked with, her frequency hopping invention that led to today's cell phone. Even the names of Lamarr's husbands and children are omitted. But I wondered why? This book has a few studio-standard photographs, nothing revelatory. What's left after that you might ask? Well, the answer is obvious: nothing. And that is sad, as Hedy Lamarr was one of Hollywood's most beautiful, fascinating and intelligent women of all times. She truly deserves a real biography.

This book is supposed to chronicle the years of 1940 to 1967 but nothing relevant is to be found. I recommend any admirer of Miss Hedy Lamarr or anyone who is even remotely interested in her life to skip this one and opt for her ghost-written autobiography, Ecstasy and Me. Or better yet, The Films of Hedy Lamarr by Christopher Young. Those are certainly worth your time and money. ... Read more

Product Description

Hedy Lamarr was a famous Hollywood star and the first woman to appear naked on film. George Antheil was a piano player and composer. So just how did these two come to invent the latest technology used by the mobile phone? She was labelled 'the most beautiful girl in the world' and he 'the bad boy of music' yet way back in 1942 they took out a patent covering the vital radio technique that we now call spread spectrum.

This absorbing book traces the eventful and sometimes scandalous lives of Hedy and George. It tells the fascinating story of radio and the ongoing battle to make it secure and of similar quality to wired communication. Spread spectrum emerges from that battle to become the solution of choice for anything from mobile phones to wireless computer networks.

Customer Reviews (3)

Continues to Amaze!
Hedy Lamarr continues to amaze with her beauty, acting abililty, and perhaps her most importnt contribution as an inventor.

More than For Mobile Phones
Since I am the person who got Hedy Lamarr world fame in 1995 after I nominated her for the Electronic Pioneer Award for her inventing by patent in 1941 what is now evolved into what is known as 'Wi-Fi'broadband as well as security for Mobile Phones I think I am in a position to review it. (he does give me credit)

It is an excellent 275 page technical and human story of all the steps and people who were involved with getting that seminal patent for 'frequency hopping' radio security.

I only take issue with his tying her work to just 'mobile phones' and the CDMA security that was in it. In fact the 'unlicensed' - not just 'secure' - characteristics that flowed from her work was, more world revolutionary. For it permitted people with technologies such as Wi-Fi to be used NOT just pay-per-minute but also broadband internet between any two radios within range of each other. From across a room, to 20, 50 miles away with NO per minute charge.

It is a little heavy duty for the technologically challenged, but it does explain just how 'things wireless work' for those, such as computer students who are vague about digital radio.

Well worth reading by any intelligent person.

Entertaining Biography of the mobile phone and Hedy Lamar
If you're looking for a biography of Hedy Lamarr, there may be better but this is good.If you're looking for a biography of George Antheil, there may be better but this is good.If you're looking for the history of radio with an emphasis on spread spectrum, this is very good.And if you're looking for a book that weaves all three together you've come to exactly the right place.

This book is well written, with only the occasional editorial nit to pick.The style is casual and entertaining.The technology discussions are satisfying without being intimidating.Even the technologically unsophisticated will be able to understand the descriptions in this book.A great book about fascinating people and a fascinating technology. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

CONFESSIONS OF A NYMPHOMANIAC

.....Miss Lamarr sued the publisher for inserting false assertions by her ghost writer that she claimed were not true.So how much of the book is fact and how much fiction is up for grabs.One thing is certain, if only one half of the book is factual then Miss Lamarr had a serious problem with her sexuality.She claims that she was over sexed and was under the care of psychiratists for many years.The word nymphomaniac was never used but most certainly must have been the case.

.....I think Miss Lamarr's world class beauty turned out to be a curse instead of a blessing and kept her from ever realizing true contentment or happiness.She admitted as much in her book ..."My face has been my misfortune.It has attracted six unsuccessful marriage partners.It has attracted all the wrong people into my boudior and brought me tragedy and heartache for five decades.My face is a mask I cannot remove:I must always live with it.I curse it." ...

.....I was disappointed that the book did not discuss her patent for frequency hopping which today is called Spread Spectrum Technology and is one of the foundations for modern wireless communications. This to me was the most interesting part of her life. That such a great mind could be smothered and hidden behind a beautiful face is a tragedy.

.....I believe that Miss Lamarr was used and exploited by Hollywood for the money her beauty would generate but I also belive that she was a willing accomplice.

Hedy Lamar
Mediocre, but rather interesting bio on Hedy Lamar.It was disappointing that her interest and achievements in electronics was never discussed. She was a brilliant woman. ... Read more

Product Description
Welcome to a world of secret communication, arms trading, mobile phones, film stars, piano players, nudity in the woods and one of the most unusual sources of revolutionary new technologies ever. This is the story of the birth of a new communication technique called spread spectrum and how it has evolved to impact our lives today. It is also the story of a forgotten patent and its two unlikely inventors.

Spread spectrum is a technology that was first developed to provide secret radio links - mostly for the military. More recently it has found many other uses. You are, in all probability, already using this stuff when you make a cordless phone call or when your PC is wirelessly connected to a network. And you will be using it more and more as the new generation of mobile phones roll into the market. One day your fridge might use it to order some replacement yoghurt! This book tells the tale of spread spectrum: what it is, where it came from, and how it is used today.

Hedy Lamarr was lauded by Hollywood as the most beautiful girl in the world. She made a whole series of films, starring with the big names of the forties. Yet behind all of this, behind a face that launched many young boys into manhood and enslaved many an older man, lay an inventive and fertile brain. Miss Lamarr was the first woman to appear naked on the silver screen. She was also, with George Antheil, one of the first to patent a technology which has shown itself to be an essential solution to secret communication via radio and to the sharing of increasingly busy radio channels.

George Antheil was the self-named "bad boy of music." Born at the beginning of the twentieth century he played his piano all the way to Paris and there became the darling of the avant garde. He composed music that shocked and amazed. His Ballet Mecanique is written for a host of mechanical pianos, accompanied by electric bells and a propeller - it caused riots. He became an expert on glands and wrote a book which predicted the course of the second world war.

Hedy and George's idea, first patented in 1942, was initially shunned. Yet, in the decades that followed, the basic principle was reinvented, refined and put to practical use in all manner of radio solutions, solutions that the inventors could never have imagined. The technique that they described is now called frequency hopping. It was before its time in the 1940s, but now has pride of place in a whole family of related solutions that are generally called - spread spectrum.

This book traces the many strands that led to the invention and that follow from it. The true source of the idea may have been Fritz Mandl, Hedy's first husband and an unscrupulous arms trader. The book traces his origins and those of his dubious trade. The invention relies upon the use of radio, so the book traces the origins of this technology and the inventive leaps that enabled its use in mobile telephony. The patent actually describes a novel method of controlling torpedoes so the development and use of these deadly underwater missiles in the first and second world wars is traced. Most importantly the river of technology which followed the invention is investigated. After the second world war most of the work on spread spectrum was carried out in the deepest secrecy - finding uses in military communication, submarine detection and spy planes over Vietnam. This book explains what happened from early exposure in the Cuban crisis through to its current application in connecting computers together and in third generation of mobile phones.
Hedy Lamarr and George Antheil lived interesting and varied lives. This book explains the phenomenal breakthrough that they achieved, and how they have added a touch of glamour to a whole new branch of communication technology. Surrounding it all is a mystery: just how did a successful Hollywood film star and a composer, each with no technical background, come to invent this technology? ... Read more

Product Description
This digital document is an article from CineAction, published by CineAction on March 22, 2001. The length of the article is 7447 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: HIGH CLASS WHORE.(actress Hedy Lamarr)
Author: Jan Christopher Horak
Publication: CineAction (Refereed)
Date: March 22, 2001
Publisher: CineAction
Page: 31

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more

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High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Hedy Lamarr (November 9, 1913 - January 19, 2000) was an Austrian-born American actress of Jewish descent. Though known primarily for her film career as a major contract star of MGM's "Golden Age", she also co-invented an early technique for spread spectrum communications, a key to many forms of wireless communication. Lamarr was born Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler in Vienna, Austria-Hungary, to Jewish parents Gertrud (née Lichtwitz), a pianist and Budapest native who came from the "Jewish haute bourgeoisie", and Lemberg-born Emil Kiesler, a successful bank director. She studied ballet and piano at age 10. When she worked with Max Reinhardt in Berlin, he called her the "most beautiful woman in Europe". Soon the teenage girl played major roles in German movies, alongside stars like Heinz Rühmann and Hans Moser. ... Read more

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The Blue Jellybean, Hedy Lamarr, And We Don't Eat Negroes: A Memoir. ... Read more

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This digital document is an article from St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture, brought to you by Gale®, a part of Cengage Learning, a world leader in e-research and educational publishing for libraries, schools and businesses.The length of the article is 506 words.The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase.You can view it with any web browser.Signed essays ranging from 500 to 2,500 words, written by subject experts and edited to form a consistent, readable, and straightforward reference. Entries include subject-specific bibliographies and textual cross-references to related essays. ... Read more